Page 37 of Saint's Sinner

“Fuck honoring that bitch!” Night snapped. “She’s never given me a reason to care if she was alive and breathing or fertilizer for a worm farm.”

“But you’re still going.”

“I have to.”

“I get it,” Saint said. “Everyone else will too.”

Night was silent for a while, drawing in a drag occasionally before passing the joint to Saint.

“Keep it,” Saint said, “or better still, chuck the damn thing. I’ve got something here that will hit a hell of a lot harder.”

Producing one of Danger’s infamous handrolls, Saint sparked it and passed it off, chuckling when instead of throwing his subpar joint away, Night hit that one, then the one Saint offered, then his old one, then Saint’s before passing Saint’s back to him.

“That has to be one of the oddest variations of puff, puff, pass I’ve ever seen,” Saint remarked as the rolled paper slid between his fingers.

It had seemed like a witty remark when it popped into his head, but it didn’t elicit so much as a snort from Night, who only seemed to grow tenser.

Finally Night sighed and closed his eyes. “Do I have to leave my colors behind when I head out?”

“Are you coming back?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Then no, but be cautious of whose territory you ride through to get where you’re going.”

Night nodded, each movement producing another thunk of his head against the brick. “Understood.”

Saint reached up and settled his hand on Night’s shoulder, giving it a rough squeeze. “Be safe.”

“Always.”

“I want you to check in when you get there, and anytime you need to talk,” Saint declared, his voice having taken on the stern tone of command. “That should go without saying.”

“It does.”

“Good,” Saint growled, hating that he was going and without a definitive statement about when he’d return. “Don’t get yourself in any shit. If I have to lead a posse out to retrieve you, I’m gonna cane your ass, got it.”

Night’s eyes flew open, then widened, dilating as he nodded his head.

Chuckling, Saint was glad to see that there was more desire than shock in his expression.

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Saint said.

Night’s eyes never left his, even as he continued to nod.

“Was beginning to wonder if you were still interested,” Saint admitted.

“Was giving you and Sinn space,” Night replied, the bright red of the cherry making his eyes glow a little as he took another toke.

“Wrong choice. Get back here safe and in one piece so we can make this official. All of it, understood?”

Night licked his lips before answering. “Yes sir.”

Saint passed him the good weed and jerked his head towards the house. “Finish that then get some sleep. Don’t worry about the weekend prep, I’ll have Rabbit take over for you. Don’t need you wrecking somewhere because you were too tired to keep it between the lines.”

It was only after Night scurried away that Saint wondered if he should have made the offer to go with him. There had been something in Night’s tone that screamed evasive, like there was more to the call home than just a death notice. With so much of the hunt for Sinn a blur of exhaustion and fury, Saint’s memories of their conversation beneath the Texas sky were a mismatch of words. He just hoped he hadn’t forgotten anything important….again.

A harsh metallic screech proceeded the grind of the metal door opening and the fierce bang when it hit the wall. Voices. Two of them, laughing. They didn’t notice him as they rounded the corner. Bellamy’s hair was loose, Cody’s still bound as Bellamy slammed him against the wall and kissed him until they were groping and grabbing at each other’s shirts, occasionally changing position as each scrabbled to get the upper hand.

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